Packaging machine



July 11, 1939. R. N. DOBLE PACKAGING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Oct. 19, 1957 lnvenTor. Ralph N.Doble b wwaam Jul 11, 1939. I I k. N. DOBLE 2,165,81

PACKAGING MACH INE vOriginal Filed Oct. 19, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 InvenTor.

Rdlph N. Doble byWW&W 4 Aflys. v

Patented July 1 1, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,165,841 rackaomo'macnmn Ralph N. Doble, Hingham, Mass.

, riglnal application October 19, 1937, Serial No. 169,763. Divided and this application December 29, 1938, Serial No. 248,297,

team. (61. 93-3) the bag material becomes folded up around the.

filling tube by the edges of the bag-forming opening. While the filling tube still remains within the partially formed bag, a charge of tea, coifee or other ingredient is delivered into the tube and thus into the, bag after which the tube is withdrawn, the marginal portions of the blank are gathered together to close the mouth of thebag and.a tie string or other fastening device is then secured to the closed mouth of the 'bag.

The blank whichis commonly used is a square blank, and when the blank is being forced through the bag-forming opening of the supporting plate by means of the bag-forming and fillin tube the central portion of each side of the blank as well as the corner portions of the blank are folded up against the tube in an indeterminate manner. Because the radial distance from the center of the blank to the center of each side is less than the 'radial'distance'from the center of the blank to each corner, said corners of the blank will extend above the center portion of theside edge of the blank when the blank has been formed into the bag shape by being forced through the bag-forming opening, and in order to make a tight bag it-has been customary .to apply the fastening device to the mouth of the bag at a point in which the entire edge of the blank will be above the fastening device. In other words, the fastening device is usually applied to the mouth of the bag at a point below the location of the center portion of the side edges of the blank. when they have been gathered together to form the bag. After the bag has been .tied or the mouth of the bag has beenfastened then the projecting corners are bag illustrating the manner in which the bag material is folded as it is forced through the usually trimmed oil a short distance above the fastening device. Where a bag is made in this way, it is necessary to use a blank which is large enough so that when the tie string or fastening device is placed around the mouth of the bag below all the edges of theblank, the bag'will still have suflicient capacity to hold the desire amount of tea or coffee. v

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a novel bag-forming means by which a tight bag can be made even when the tie string is placed above a portion of the edges of the folded blank, thereby making it possible to form a bag having a given capacity from a blank of smaller dimensions than would be required material.

In accordance with my present invention, I use a supporting plate which is specially conto make a bag of the same capacity if the tie J9 string were placed below. all the edges of the bag structed so that as the blank of bag material is forced therethrough by the bag-forming and fillv ing tube, the-central portion of each side of the blank will be formed into aninner fold which is overlapped and enclosed by another or outer fold formed from corner portion of the blank.

When the bag is completed by gathering the mouth thereof together and applying the fastening device or tie string, a tight bag will be produced even if the tie string is placed above the edge of the innerfolds but below the edge of the outer folds,'since the inner folds are held closed by the outer folds which} are tightly clamped thereabout. v

In order to give an understanding of the invention I have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of a bag-forming machine embodying my invention and illustrating the special supporting plate employed to produce the abovedescribed re- Fig. 5 is a side view of the partially formed bag-forming opening;

Fig. 6 is a view of the completed bag. Inasmuch as the present invention relates to the supporting plate and its bag-forming opening and the manner in which the blank of bag material is formed by said plate, I have not thought it necessary to illustrate herein a complete machine but have only shown such porlength is cut ofi from the strip 3 by means of a suitable shear device I, and the portion which is thus cut off then constitutes a blank of bag material from which a bag is formed. This blank is usually square and is illustrated by the dotted lines 8 in Figs. 2 and 3. After the blank 3 has been placed in position over the bag-forming opening 2 said blank is formed into a bag by means of a bag-forming and filling tube 8 which is forced downwardly against the blank I and through the opening 2, thereby causing the outer portions of the blank of bag material to be folded up around the tube by the edges of the bag-forming opening 2.

During the downward movement of the tube 8 the bag material is not only forced through the opening 2 but also forced into or through the opening III between two jaw members II, I2 that are mounted on a suitable turret I3, as shown in Fig. 8.

When the bag has been thus formed, a charge of tea, coffee or other ingredient is deposited in the tube 8 and thus into the bag, and the tube is then withdrawn, after which the jaws III and II are closed together to close the mouth of the bag and a tie string or fastening device I4 is then applied to the bag to hold the mouth closed. The

"upwardly projecting corners of the bag material are then trimmed ofi thereby to produce a bag II as shown in Fig. 6.

The parts thus far described with the exception of the supporting plate I are or may be of the same construction as illustrated in Patents No. 1,700,672, January 29, 1929; No. 1,857,662, May 10, 1932, and No. 1,911,805, May 30, 1933.

According to my present invention I employ a supporting plate having a bag-forming opening of special construction which is designed to fold the bag material around the tube 9 in a special way so that a tight bag will be formed even if the tie string or fastening device is placed above the edge of the center portion of each side of the blank. This makes it possible to use a smaller blank for a'bag of a predetermined capacity than could be used if the tie string were placed entirely below the entire edge of a folded blank.

The bag-forming opening in the plate I has the central open portion 2 and four curved slots l5 extending outwardly therefrom, said slots forming between them fold-forming portions I6. The

plate is formed on its underside with an inclined the supporting plate in the position shown in dotted lines 2 with the fold-forming portion I6 opposite the central portions I8 of the s d s 91- the blank. As the bag-forming .tube 9 is entered into the bag-forming opening! the portions I9 of the blank 8 forming the central portion of each side thereof are each formed into a fold 20 around one of the fold-forming portions I6, and each corner portion 2| of the blank is formed by the edge 22 into a fold 23 which is oppositely disposed from the adjacent folds 20, and which is also located on the outside of one of the folds 20. The folds 20 into which the portions I8 of the blank are formed may be termed inner folds, and the folds 23 formed from the corners of the blank by the edges 22 and the slots I5 and which are located outside of the folds 20 may be termed outer folds. In forming these inner and outer folds 20 and 23, the outer side of each inner fold 20, which is indicated at 39 in Fig. 4, constitutes the inner side of an adjacent outer fold, this portion 33 being common to both folds. The relative position of each slot I5 and the adjacent folding portion I6 and finger I1 causes the inner folds to hug the tube 9 and causes the outer folds 23 to overlap the inner folds as best seen in Figs. 4 and 5. The overlapping fold formation which is thus initiated by the fold-forming portions I6 and fingers I1 is maintained by the jaws I I, I2 as the bag is forced through said jaws by the tube 9, and when the charge of tea, coifee or other ingredient has been deposited in the bag and the tube 3 has been withdrawn, this overlapping relation of the folds 20 and 23 is still maintained when the jaws II and I2 are closed together to close the mouth of the bag.

The inner folds 20, which are formed from the side portions 8 of the blank, are shorter than the outer folds 23 which are formed from the corner portions of the blank, since the radial dimension of the blank midway of each side is shorter than the radial dimension of the blank at the corners. With this arrangement, the ends 24 of the shorter inner folds 20 are, therefore, nearer the bottom of the bag than the ends 34 of the longer outer folds 23. In the formation of these folds 20 and 23, the shorter inner folds are laid or placed behind the longer outer folds so that the ends 24 of the shorter inner folds will be covered by an overlapping outer fold.

After the baghas been formed and filled and the mouth has been closed by the jaws II and I2, then the tie string or fastening device I4 is applied to the closed mouth of the bag, and I propose to apply such fastening device to the bag mouth above the ends 24 of the shorter inner folds 20, as indicated by the dot and dash line 25 in Fig. 5. Although the fastening device I4 is placed on the bag above the ends 24 of the inner folds 20, yet since these inner folds are tucked within the outer folds 23 and are closely held in their tucked-in relation by the tightening of the fastening I4, there is no possibility that the contents of the bag may leak out over the edges 24 of the shorter inner folds 20.

By having the tie string or fastening device placed above the ends 24 of the inner folds 20, it is possible to make a bag having a given capacity from a smaller piece of bag material than if the tie string were placed below said ends 24. This means that for making bags of a certain size it is possible by means of my invention to use a web 3 of bag material which is narrower than that formerly used and to use a shorter length of such Web 3 for forming each bag.

In the bag H the corner portions only of the blank are located above the tie string and fastening device, and the central portions I8 of.the

2,166,841 an inclined in the same direction and having i the bag will leak out over the edges 24 of the horter innerfolds. I

In Fig. 5 the dotted line 26 indicates the line long which the corners of the bag may be rimmed off after the fastening device has been ecured thereto.

In order to assist in making thefolds 20, 23, I

may, if desired, employ additional folding plates i1, 28 beneath the supporting plate 5, said addi-- ional plates 21, 28 beingvc'arried by the fingers I and having slots 29 corresponding to the slots 5. These additional plates 21, 28 serve to hold he folds 20 and 23 in their overlapping relation. is the bag material is carried through the plates ind into and between the jaws H and, I2.

The bottom of the tube 9 is shown. as having: L stepped or toothed surface presenting a plu- 'ality of teeth 30. The purpose: of"; these teeth s to prevent the bag material fronrtwisting out if its proper position during the initial movenent of the tube 9 into and through. the open-.- ng 2..

This application is a division off my applica- ;ion Serial No. 169,763, filed Qctober 19, 1937.",,

which has matured into Patent No. 2,118,551.

Iclaim: 1.. A bag-forming machine comprising a platehaving a bag-forming opening: therein presente ing a central portion and a plurality of curved.

slots extending outwardly therefrom at an inch-- nation to a radial line, said curved slots having; between them fold-forming portions, and a bagforming tube adapted tobe inserted through the central portion of they opening, thereby to iorce a blank of bag material through the opening,

said fold-forming portions forming inner folds in the bag material as it passes through said opening and said slots forming outer folds which overlap the inner folds.

2. A bag-forming machine comprising a plate having a bag-forming opening presenting a central portion and a plurality of curved slots extending outwardly from the central portion at an inclination to a radial line, said slotsbeing between them fold-forming portions, and a bagforming tube adapted to be inserted through the central portion of the opening, thereby to force a blank of bag material through said opening, said fold-forming portions forming inner folds in the bag material which extend circumferentially of the bag in the same direction and said slots forming outer folds which overlap the inner folds and extend circumferentially of the bag in the opposite direction.

3. A bag forming machine comprising a. plate having a bag-forming opening presenting a central portion and a plurality of curved slots extending outwardly from. the central portion at an inclination to aradial line and having between them fold-forming portions, fold-retaining fingers depending from the fold-forming porand fold-retaining fingers; forming inthe bagmaterial inner; folds extending in one. direction circumferentially'of. the;bag, and said slots forming in the bag material. outer folds which overlap.-

the inner folds and extend: in the oppositedirection circumierentially of? the bag.

4. A bag-forming; machine comprising: a plate having a. bageforming'opening presenting, at central portion and a, plurality of curved slots ex.- tending; outwardly the centrai portion. at

an inclination to a. line, said slots-being: all:

inclined in the same direction and haying: be-

tween. them fold-forming portions, fold-retaining:

fingerrdepending the fold-forming portions and each having a downward inclinatimr inv a direction opposite to that of the adjacent slot,

and a bag-forming tube adapted. to be inserted. through the central portion of the opening, thereby forcing a blank of bag material through said opening, said fold forming'portions and foldretaining fingers forming in the bag material in- 'the inner folds and extending in the opposite direction circumferentially of said bag.

RALPH N. DOBLE. 

